Resident Evil 20th Anniversary – What’s Next?

Back in March, the Resident Evil series celebrated its 20th birthday – 20 frightful years since the release of Resident Evil on Playstation. There’s a lot going on under the franchise’s name this year in celebration of the incredible milestone, some has already taken place, but there is still plenty on its way…

Continue reading for a catch-up on what you may have missed, and a summary of what’s confirmed and what could be yet to come for fans of this historic series!

Resident Evil Zero Remaster/Origins Collection

Continuing the trend of remastering fan-favourite RE titles, series prequel Resident Evil Zero got a new lick of paint for its release on Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4 and Steam in January. This release came alongside the Origins Collection, which bundled this release of Resident Evil Zero with last year’s remaster of Resident Evil. These games are some of the founding fathers of the survival horror genre, and with these age-busting visual and auditory updates, there’s never been a better time to experience them!

Umbrella Corps

Coming June 21st to PS4 & PC Steam, Umbrella Corps is a competitive multiplayer shooter set in the world of Resident Evil. Offering a varied selection of multiplayer game modes to play on a collection of maps, several of which will look very familiar to RE veterans, plus a single-player mission-based mode, this is an entirely new experience coming to the Resident Evil series. More info on Umbrella Corps can be found here!

Resident Evil 4, 5 & 6

In addition to the above, players on Xbox One & PS4 are also able to relive three other big titles throughout this year! Already set in motion with the currently-available Resident Evil 6, Resident Evil 4-6 are being released individually over several months. Next to release is 2009’s Resident Evil 5, available digitally on June 28th, followed by the critically-acclaimed Resident Evil 4 in Fall.

Resident Evil 6 was released at the end of March, complete with all extra content released for the game plus improved graphics – now running at 1080p/60FPS. Resident Evil 5 will run at 1080p with “an increased framerate” according to the Xbox store pre-order listing, and will also include all extra content released for the original game, plus the previously PC-exclusive “No Mercy” mode which throws even larger hordes of enemies at the player. Given the visual improvements for 5 & 6, it’s entirely possible that Resident Evil 4 will get a similar treatment, especially considering that it received a significantly improved lick of paint for the “Ultimate HD Edition” which released for PC in 2014.

Resident Evil 7? Resident Evil 2 Remake? Both?

Every gamer and their dog is almost certainly excited for E3, starting tomorrow, and with it could come some serious announcements for the Resident Evil series, given the significance of this year’s milestone. We don’t know exactly what’s coming, but if May’s financial report from Capcom is anything to go by, it’s big:

“In the fiscal year ending March 31, 2017, the Company is scheduled to release the strategic titles of “Sengoku BASARA Sanada Yukimura-den” (for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3), which showcases the life of Sanada Yukimura, and “Resident Evil Umbrella Corps” (for PlayStation 4 and PC) of the “Resident Evil” series, which marked its 20th anniversary in March 2016, as warm up to the full-scale offensive planned for the second half of the year.”

So, the re-releases and Umbrella Corps are just warm-ups? What could this “full-scale offensive” be then?

Well, we know that Capcom are working on a full remake of Resident Evil 2, as confirmed in the latter half of last year, and reports are emerging that we may see this title released toward the end of this year, but that’s all they are right now – rumours. Bearing in mind it’s been less than a year since it was apparently “greenlit” as a project, that’s a rather quick turnaround for such a release.

Another potentially more exciting possibility may well be Resident Evil 7 – whilst not officially confirmed as a project, it seems almost certain that such a title will emerge sooner or later. The last numbered titles have released with 3-4 year intervals between each other, and it’s been nearly 4 years since RE6 launched, so this year is certainly a likely prospect for the next numbered title’s release – especially with it being the 20th anniversary. Reports have also emerged that RE7 will be a true return to the franchise’s horror roots, so it could well be worthy of the “full-scale offensive” title Capcom may be attributing to it!

All we can say for sure is, this year is certainly going to be a big one for hardcore RE fans – let’s see what’s coming next week!

tl;dr – I’m unreasonably hyped for more nightmare fuel like this, and you should be too:

What do you think we’ll see at E3? What are you most excited for this year in RE?